Saturday, November 11, 2006

[Mayor Tom] Bates' victory was the result of a centrist campaign that gained the unprecedented endorsements of both sides of the Berkeley political divide – the Berkeley Democratic Club, home of the city's "moderate" faction, and its rival, the "progressive" Berkeley Citizens Action.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Finished figuring out who and what to vote for tomorrow, and I'm reasonably certain I'm not just choosing the lesser of evils. As in 2004, I've determined that there's no shame in going third-party or even abstaining on some of the offices*. Either action sends the message that there are votes out there to be won in 2008, and the third-party vote even sends a signal about how to earn that vote in the future. I can even grant the third-party candidates a little more leeway on the issues, because it's not like they're actually going to win.

I was almost willing to cut one candidate a pass on his "Eliminate the IRS and the Dept. of Education" wackiness, on account of his stated opposition to abortion, the war in Iraq, and torture. But then I checked out his campaign site, and I'm afraid I have to draw the line at "paranoid delusional". I am not going to give a vote to a person whose website is devoted to explaining how the Federal Reserve was behind the assassination of Robert Kennedy. Call it the LaRouche Corollary. Or call it California.

Just remember, whether you're voting or not, to say a prayer for the U.S. tomorrow. We're a foolish and flawed people, and we get the politicians we deserve, but there's always hope for us.

* Of course, I was able to go more mainstream for the more local races, since not every issue matters for every office: Iraq ceases to be a factor in statewide elections, for example.

P.S. Kudos to the nonpartisan Project Vote Smart, which was a pretty convenient way to access the vital info on candidates: their responses to a position questionnaire (usually neglected by the main-party types, but there's enough info on them already), their recent speeches, and links to their campaign sites. I've gotta remember this site in '08.

Epigraph

Every philosopher has probably had a bad hour when he thought: what do I matter if one does not accept my bad arguments, too? — And then some mischievous little bird flew past him and twittered: "What do you matter? What do you matter?"